Manuel Sam
Contributor
I recently completed a three week dive trip in the Philippines that included the Coron area, Anilao and Malapascua. This may be old news for those who have traveled extensively thru Manila’s Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA), but it would have been helpful to me in planning my Philippines dive trip and flight times. Hopefully it may be of use to those contemplating a multileg trip in the Philippines similar to mine, who have to transit thru NAIA and have questions about terminal transfers, so as to avoid biting your nails to the first knuckle like I did.
To transfer between NAIA terminals, the Manila Airport Authority provides a shuttle bus that services the four terminals. The biggest pluses are that both the waiting area and the bus itself are comfortable and AC’d, and the bus travels within the airport, thereby avoiding the dreaded Manila traffic.
The biggest minus to me is that it only runs every 30-45 minutes, and as luck would have it, it was closer to 45 than to 30; and also as luck would have it, when going from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 as I was, it was naturally scripted for the bus to first stop at 4 and then 2 before going to Terminal 1.
All in all, I spent 30 minutes deplaning, retrieving my check-in bag, and then heading to the terminal transfer waiting area (and at least in Terminal 3, you have to go thru Security once again to enter the waiting area), 40 minutes waiting for the bus, and 20 minutes riding the bus for a total of 90 minutes. This reduced my once safe connection time of 2 hrs 45 minutes down to 75 minutes; just enough time to get thru the line and Security at the Terminal 1 entrance, check in and then go thru Security to get to the departure gate…..and that is cutting it a bit close.
Things that I might do differently, knowing what I now know: (1) do an open jaw international flight, flying into Manila and then flying out of Cebu if the price is right; (2) research arrival and departure terminals beforehand and if a terminal transfer is required, take an earlier flight to Manila from Cebu (or wherever I ma flying in from) to allow at least 3 hours of connection time; and, (3) it was suggested that I go outside and take a cab to Terminal 1 instead of waiting for the terminal transfer shuttle bus. I might have considered this had I not heard about long waits just to catch a cab, the dreaded Manila traffic, and the strong likelihood of price gouging, but if in a pinch.....
I plan on returning to the Philippines in the future and do similar multileg trips. I welcome any additional suggestions on how to better handle terminal transfers within the Manila airport. Thanks.
To transfer between NAIA terminals, the Manila Airport Authority provides a shuttle bus that services the four terminals. The biggest pluses are that both the waiting area and the bus itself are comfortable and AC’d, and the bus travels within the airport, thereby avoiding the dreaded Manila traffic.
The biggest minus to me is that it only runs every 30-45 minutes, and as luck would have it, it was closer to 45 than to 30; and also as luck would have it, when going from Terminal 3 to Terminal 1 as I was, it was naturally scripted for the bus to first stop at 4 and then 2 before going to Terminal 1.
All in all, I spent 30 minutes deplaning, retrieving my check-in bag, and then heading to the terminal transfer waiting area (and at least in Terminal 3, you have to go thru Security once again to enter the waiting area), 40 minutes waiting for the bus, and 20 minutes riding the bus for a total of 90 minutes. This reduced my once safe connection time of 2 hrs 45 minutes down to 75 minutes; just enough time to get thru the line and Security at the Terminal 1 entrance, check in and then go thru Security to get to the departure gate…..and that is cutting it a bit close.
Things that I might do differently, knowing what I now know: (1) do an open jaw international flight, flying into Manila and then flying out of Cebu if the price is right; (2) research arrival and departure terminals beforehand and if a terminal transfer is required, take an earlier flight to Manila from Cebu (or wherever I ma flying in from) to allow at least 3 hours of connection time; and, (3) it was suggested that I go outside and take a cab to Terminal 1 instead of waiting for the terminal transfer shuttle bus. I might have considered this had I not heard about long waits just to catch a cab, the dreaded Manila traffic, and the strong likelihood of price gouging, but if in a pinch.....
I plan on returning to the Philippines in the future and do similar multileg trips. I welcome any additional suggestions on how to better handle terminal transfers within the Manila airport. Thanks.